The universe has been sending us cats lately.
Some of you might already know about my Skye kitty AKA the Camping Kitty. I rescued her three years ago and she’s a sweetheart. She enjoys camping and late night parties.
She tolerates my husband. Unless he has chicken. Then he’s her best friend. Bats her little eyelashes at him like a real pro. She ain’t cheap, but she can be bought.
I’ve often pondered getting a second cat…one that wouldn’t have to be bribed to snuggle up to Hubby. I think he misses Fluffy who passed away four years ago. She was more like a bean bag than a real cat. He’d flop her down next to him on the couch and she’d stay there.
Try that with Skye and you get some fiercely dirty looks as she squirms and bolts. To add insult to injury, she usually escapes from him only to run to me and curl up on my lap. All while still giving him that evil eye. Nah nah. She’s definitely Mama’s Girl.
So along comes Moochie. Mooch is the neighbor’s cat. Except that when he was sick recently, they avoided getting close to him. I, on the other hand, fed him and petted him and made a fuss over the poor guy. I also went through a whole bottle of Germ-X so that I wouldn’t bring anything in to Skye. Now Mooch thinks he lives here.
I’ve threatened to lay claim to Mooch, haul him to the vets and get his…err…nuts chopped. Sorry, guys. But he’s a hyperactive boy, and I fear would completely trash the house were I to bring him inside.
Plus, Skye hates him. She had a brief fling with him last winter through the window, but he jilted her for another cat and she’s never forgiven him.
Now along comes this little calico kitten. Someone must have dropped her off. She’s timid, but sweet. And she’s bony. Probably flea infested. But, darn she’s cute.
Hubby picked her up the other day and flipped her over. “Look,” he said as he pointed out the ugly hole in her throat.
Ick. She had a warble. If you don’t know what a warble is…well, it’s a botsfly worm. I won’t go into details since some of you might be eating your breakfast. Suffice it to say that I have worked on an ambulance, and this thing still grossed me out.
Hubby managed to use tweezers to extract the thing (double ick). The kitten just lay there in his hand and let him. I then flushed the wound with peroxide (note to self: need to pick up betadine at the store) and the kitty still didn’t protest. Hubby sat her down, amazed and said, “She’s a keeper.”
Since the minor surgery, she’s doing quite well. Seems relieved to have that nasty thing out of her throat. She has a purr like a diesel engine.
And then there’s Skye.
Can you tell she’s none-too-happy with the newcomer?
I’m not sure what the future holds here. With Hubby still unemployed, taking another kitty to the vet for shots, flea dip, neutering, and various assorted other stuff that inevitably crops up, just isn’t in the budget.
Anyone want a really cute, really tame kitten?
For the moment, I’m thinking we should at least name her. Maybe a name from literature? I’m not good at this, so I’m taking suggestions. Feel free to offer up your suggestions for names. And if you’d like to give a kitty a good home, let me know that, too.
11 comments:
Annette -
She looks really cute, but I'm not in the market for another cat. My surviving old tom is getting expensive enough.
It's too early in the morning to come up with a great cat name. I've had Taffy (who came to me already named) for so long that I'm out of practice. I think the best I ever came up with was Fluffbudget for a little striped female who constantly complained. Sounds like that calico is too mellow for a name like that, though. Maybe Patience; not a literary reference, but it sounds like the kind of name that describes her personality and would seems to go with calico (the cloth). By the way, if it seems like this cat is taking to Ray I think you ought to keep her. My ex-husband and I each had our own personal cat - his was Crazy Where and mine was Moriah - which made life a lot easier, I think.
Gina, I'm very tempted to keep this kitty as "his cat" but I'm not sure how Skye would take to having a little sister. So far she doesn't even like having that baby out on the porch.
Besides, with him out of work, I'm concerned about the vet expenses of shots, spaying, worming, and flea treatment...all necessary issues before I could bring her inside with Skye.
If she's the little sister, she could be SCOUT...especially if she's fond of her dad!
I was going to say just name her Calico, but I LOVE Scout!
Animal Friends has low cost spaying. They might have other low cost services as well.
Oh, Jen, Scout is good! I like it. (Skye and Scout has a ring to it, don't you think?)
Hubby was just out on the porch with her. He puts her on his lap belly up and scruffs up her face and her ears...and she just purrs.
Sigh. Joyce, I may have to look into Animal Friends if this bonding keeps up.
What a cute kitty! I was going to suggest a name but why bother when the name, Scout, is perfect! I vote for Scout.
Annette,
kitty is very cute. Reminds me of a cat we used to have...
But vet bills can get expensive. And before bringing new kitty into a household she should be taken to a vet. Our new cat had a parasite and passed it on to our older cat.
D.D.
I think Scout is perfect too. I think if you start checking, you'll find there are willing to do spaying, sometimes free.
Check and see if you have a feral cat organization in the area.
Patg
Pat, No feral cat organization close by. And she's hardly feral anyway.
And, yes, I fully intend to have her vetted before moving her indoors with Skye. Taking no chances on making my Skye baby sick.
Kitties make me sneeze. And anyway, she's your cat. You may not have accepted it yet, but she is.
You can get flea dip stuff at the pet store, most likely. Or tell the vet that you just can't afford to bring her in and see if they'll sell you the stuff to do it yourself. Around here we have mobile clinics that come around and spay/neuter cats and dogs for a pretty good price. Other places have similar things; I know I saw a sign for one in Florida in July. And if you've named her... well, it's a done deal. Congratulations on adopting another cat.
I do have a new kitten in the next DIY-book, however! All the cat people were lamenting the lack of cat-stuff, so I had to add one. His name is Mischa.
Jennie, I don't trust pet store flea stuff. Some of it's toxic and she's so little. Plus she still has that hole in her neck from the warble (ick!)
And as "anonymous" (Doris, is that you?) said, things can get passed to the indoor cat. I'd rather pay a vet to prevent THAT from happening than cutting corners and end up with TWO sick cats.
Sigh. Having said all that, I've been saving for a much-needed new laptop and I fear my computer money may be going to the vet instead. Perhaps I should name the kitten Dell.
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